There is Nowhere to Hide When "You're Next"

4/20/2014

The home invasion horror sub-genre has been done to varying degrees of success in recent years. Movies like 2008's "The Strangers", Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" and the French horror masterpiece "Inside" are just a few examples of what filmmakers aspire to. Director Adam Wingard does the genre proud with his brutal and often humorous film "You're Next".

After a brief introduction scene with indie horror icon Larry Fessenden, we get all of our main characters together in a large and somewhat isolated vacation home. The four grown kids and their significant others and celebrating their parent anniversary. This includes brothers Crispian, Drake, Felix, and sister Aimee. The cast is stocked with indie film regulars Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz and AJ Bowen to name a few. The plum role of the film goes to Crispian's girlfriend Erin, played by Sharni Vinson. He has obviously seen (or not cared to notice) only one side of her. As she grew up on survivalist compound which needless to say pays off big when the house is under siege by three men in animal masks. The Lion, the Fox, and the Lamb is not a lullaby but a brutal threesome out to wipe out the family with crossbows and machetes. Their motives and the deeper meaning of their attack are played out later in the film in a place call spoiler territory. Sorry no spoilers in this review, you'll have to watch the movie.

The madness begins at dinner with arrows flying fast and furious. Instinct kicks in and Erin switches to survival mode to take control of the situation. Unlike popular horror movie traditions, Erin is not the frightened final girl who cowers in a corner. She is ready to kick some ass. Many other common horror clichés are stepped around, but they are still plenty to go around. The movie has its brutal violence meshed with dark comedic moments to make this a very enjoyable experience.